83 So. 2d 488 - Norman v. Brown’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"While it is the general rule that a person suing to recover on a commutative contract must allege and prove that he has fully performed his part of the engagement in order to recover, it is the well-settled jurisprudence of this state that this doctrine is without application to suits brought on building contracts. Article 2769 of the Civil Code provides: `If an undertaker fails to do the work he has contracted to do, or if he does not execute it in the manner and at the time he has agreed to do it, he shall be liable in damages for the losses that may ensue from his noncompliance with his contract.' "The foregoing article has been construed by the courts to mean that, where a contractor sues on a building contract and it is shown that the work delivered is defective or unfinished, the contractor is, nonetheless, entitled to recover the contract price if the defendant fails to establish the damages he has sustained by reason of the contractor's partial default. The remedy of the owner in such cases is for a reduction in the price to an amount necessary to perfect or complete the work according to the terms of the contract. * * * * * * * * * "In the case at bar, the defendants have mistaken their remedy as their sole defense to the action is that, since plaintiff has not fully performed the contract in accordance with the intendment of the parties, no recovery can be permitted. In no part of their answer did they allege, nor did they attempt to prove, the damages which they h”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 128 So. 2d 447 - Loeb v. Neilson

2. ““The law applicable in such a case as this is clear. If there has been substantial compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract existing between the parties, then the contractor is entitled to be paid the contract price. The remedy of the owner is a diminution of the price to be paid by whatever amount is necessary to complete the work in accordance with the original contract. There were no specifications for this job. Only a floor plan, a material list, and the original contract and contract amendment appear in the record. No showing has been made by either party as to whether or not the materials called for were actually used in the construction of the house, or if the materials complained of were in fact sub-standard. The entire case made by the defendant appears to be based on the fact that the caliber of workmanship employed in constructing the house was sub-standard. “There can be very little doubt as to the correctness of this assertion. The question here is whether or not the character of the workmanship is so poor as to constitute non-compliance with the terms of the contract. “In the opinion of the Court, this is the case. It is inherent in any building contract that the work be performed in a good and workmanlike manner. That it was not so performed in this case is sufficient to constitute noncompliance with the contract.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. U-Finish Homes, Inc. v. Michel